2019:News

In 2019, Wikimania will take place in Stockholm, Sweden. On this page, we will collect news and information that may be relevant if you want to attend.

11 July

Just one more month to go until Wikimania 2019 in Stockholm begins! From the Organizing Team, we hope that you are as excited as we are.

We would like to share some news with you at this point, and also ask you for some small tasks.

From previous Wikimanias we know that it is sometimes hard to get to know new people, find familiar faces, etc. We would like to try out something new: Via this form[1], we ask a couple of questions about yourself, like your main interest at Wikimania, and for a photo. Based on this info, we will print participant cards, cluster them by main interest, and display them: So at one glance you will see who's attending, and who's interested in the same topic as you! This is of course voluntarily. Please submit your answers via this form[1] until August 9, 24:00 CEST. We will delete the data provide a week after Wikimania concludes.

On Thursday 15 August – the day before the main conference – Wikimedia Sverige is arranging a “culture crawl” with two different tracks, where attendees will be able to see, explore and understand more of Swedish culture and heritage. Both tracks will end with an edit-a-thon, where we try to improve information on the museums we have visited together. Visit this page for more information and to sign up.[2]
13 July is the last day to book accommodation with our special discount. If you want to do this, or wish to find advice on other accommodation, visit our accommodation page.[3]
A lot of you are probably researching transportation at this point. We are trying to make the event as sustainable as possible, and transportation is an important part of that. If you have the ability, we encourage you to travel as sustainably as possible. This page[4] might provide you with some information.
Finally: If you wish to, you can add yourself to this list over attendees.[5]

8 July

After a couple of beautiful, sunny weeks of summer, the weather in Stockholm has changed to cold, grey and rainy. Fingers crossed that that means that weather in August during Wikimania will be beautiful and sunny again!

It's not too many weeks left, and I hope the preparations for those of you who are coming are going well! We look forward to having you in Stockholm!

A couple of updates at this point:

You can still book hotel rooms at the Comfort Hotel Xpress Stockholm Central to a special discounted rate for another couple of days - last day 13 July. If you are interested in this option, don't wait! On the accommodation page on the Wikimania wiki we have also listed some other possible alternatives, if you wish to find accommodation on your own.

The program is still under development, and you can follow the development on the wiki. We have however already published information on the welcome reception and the closing party. We are excited for these events, and hope you are so too! More information can be found here.
On the Thursday before the main conference starts, Wikimedia Sverige is arranging two culture crawls where you will be able to visit some of the best museums in Stockholm for free. If you wish to participate in those, check out the culture crawl site on the wiki! Don't wait with signing up if interested: there is a limited amount of places!
There are also a number of other related activities happening during the week. Sign up for photo walks, museum tours and edit-a-thons with partners and friends.

26 April

A lot of you are probably waiting for the calls for submissions for Wikimania 2019 in Stockholm. We are happy to tell that this will be open in a very short while, and ask you to watch the conference wiki for further information (though we will of course advertise it here too). This year the Call for Submissions will be a bit different than previous Wikimanias as, rather than being held through one central page and reviewed one central program committee, each Space will be requesting and reviewing submissions for their particular topic area.

We are also happy to tell you that the Spaces for Wikimania are now chosen. They will be nineteen in total, and all in different ways relate to the Theme of “Stronger Together: Wikimedia, Free Knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals.” The Leaders are currently preparing their pages on the Wiki, and the calls for submission for proposals will be launched when they are all ready.

For anyone not clear about what “Space”, “Leader” and “Calls for submission” mean, please review the program design!

1 March

The Wikimania organizing team is now happy to announce the Program Design of Wikimania 2019!

We believe that this year’s conference theme requires a format that is future-oriented, collaborative, active, and focused on practical problem-solving. The program will therefore consist of a series of parallel spaces (or tracks), lead by leaders, and through practical training, learning, idea-sharing and cross-cultural collaboration focusing on different topic areas.

The call for proposals for these Leaders, and what they would like to do with those Spaces, is NOW OPEN. We invite you to visit the Program Design page on the Wikimania Wiki to read more.